Border guards rescue four Dao girls from traffickers

Four young girls (right) of the Dao ethnic group in Lao Cai Province were rescued after being trafficked and sent to China six days ago. — Vietnamplus Photo Van Toan, Viet Dung

LÀO CAI — Vietnamese and Chinese border guards have rescued four Vietnamese girls from the Dao ethnic minority group in northern mountain Lào Cai Province after they were trafficked and sent to China six days ago.

Vietnamese border guards or soldiers in Lào Cai Province received a report last Thursday from families of the four girls that they were missing since October 24.

The soldiers immediately sent a team to the local area to investigate the case. They suspected it to be a case of cross-border human trafficking and informed their Chinese counterparts.

After four days of investigation, the soldiers of the two countries yesterday found four young girls -- Ban Thi T, 15; Nguyễn Thi D, 18; Bàn Thị U, 17; and ND Bàn Thị N, 13 -- being kept captive for sale to a brothel.

The four girls were rescued and sent back to their families on the same day.

The young girls later said they were approached by two men with whom they got acquainted on a social networking site. The men tried to convince them to visit China.

The girls accepted the invitation and followed the men through the Lao Cai Border Gate. But after reaching China, they were kept captive and threatened that they would be killed if they tried to escape. The four girls were to be sold to a brothel.

The case is being investigated further.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Văn Tuấn of the Lào Cai Border Guard Station, said four cases of human trafficking have been detected and dozens of victims have been rescued so far this year. — VNS